The brilliant beat is sampled from “5 to 1” by The Doors, and KRS-One’s “Sound of Da Police.” “Takeover” was the first song Young Guru ever mixed for Jay-Z, beginning a long and fruitful relationship.

Hidden

This page is accessible to

Verified artists on the song

Locked

This song has been locked and is considered "done." You need 600 IQ to add annotations to locked songs.

What have the artists said about the song?

“For me it was like a sport. ‘Takeover’ was like a sport,” Jay-Z said during an interview with Angie Martinez at the time of the record’s release.

I respected dude lyrically. I feel like I’m on top of my game. I don’t feel you can compare his career to my career, but that’s just my opinion. It just pushes everybody to sharpen their skills. That’s what rap is about. It’s a competitive sport.